Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 3,153 Shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. $RJF

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 572,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,153 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.29% of Raymond James Financial worth $91,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,847,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,009,342,000 after acquiring an additional 230,871 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,597,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,332,000 after acquiring an additional 111,950 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,357,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,941,000 after acquiring an additional 227,337 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 932,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,968,000 after acquiring an additional 25,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 841,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,194,000 after acquiring an additional 227,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RJF has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Raymond James Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $166.00 price objective (up from $158.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $159.00 price objective (up from $156.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Raymond James Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 29,551 shares of Raymond James Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.34, for a total transaction of $4,206,289.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 53,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,627,431.24. The trade was a 35.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Financial Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of RJF stock opened at $159.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $149.80 and a 200-day moving average of $158.31. The firm has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.99. Raymond James Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.82 and a 12-month high of $177.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Raymond James Financial had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 18.01%. Raymond James Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Raymond James Financial, Inc. will post 11.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. Raymond James Financial’s payout ratio is currently 20.42%.

About Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1962, the company provides a range of services to individual investors, businesses and institutions through a combination of wealth management, capital markets, investment banking, asset management, banking and trust services. Its business model centers on a network of financial advisors and broker-dealer operations that deliver personalized financial planning, investment advisory services and brokerage solutions.

The firm’s core offerings include private client wealth management delivered by independent and employee advisors, equity and fixed-income research, institutional sales and trading, and investment banking services such as mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising.